An unexpected surprise
by CauseChicasLoveStarmen
Summary: Berry, the youngest of four orphaned siblings, goes grocery shopping, until something in an alley suddenly distracts her on her way, which turns out to be a young, abandoned Pokémon. She decides to take it home, but do her oldest brother, aunt and uncle allow her to keep it? A short, heartwarming fic.


_Note: if the text is italic, it's the exact translation of what a certain Pokémon is saying or trying to say!_

Somewhere in Hearthome City, there lived a family: the Richardson family.

It consisted of four teenage children: Chap, a nearly 18-year-old high school graduate; Pik, a 15-year-old 10th grader; Heart, a 12-year-old wandering, fanatic Pokémon trainer who owned the mere amount of 28 official badges now (all of them from the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn leagues, and four from the Sinnoh league); and Berry, a 10-year-old home-school girl whose dream it was to become an official Pokémon coordinator.

The four became orphans a year ago, so they lived with their uncle Henry and aunt Alice ever since.

One of these days, it was a dark and stormy late afternoon. Only Chap, Pik, and Berry were at home now. Their aunt and uncle were still at work, and Heart was training her team for the next badge.

Chap was examining the kitchen cupboards to see if they needed any extra foods, Pik was doing his homework on the living room computer, and Berry was watching Adventure Time, since she was already done with her week-daily home-schooling session.

"Berry?" Chap asked. "Could you please get some groceries? Here's a list of what you need – don't worry, it's not too much of a hassle."

Berry took the list, and read it. She only just needed to get some bread and vegetables. Easy peasy, she thought.

"Okay!" she chimed, as she turned off the TV, and got into her rain garment, which consisted of a raincoat, rubber trousers and boots. She got herself a basket, and put the grocery list into the pocket of her coat. "I'll make sure to be home with them just in time!"

"Take care!" Chap and Pik both said, as Berry left the house.

The rain was pouring, and Berry hurried towards the grocery store, not letting the stereotypically bad weather stop her from anything.

She walked across everything and everyone she knew. Even her older sister Heart was on her way home now, obviously looking annoyed because of the weather.

"Hey, Ber" Heart said, "you getting some groceries?"

Berry nodded. "It's not too much of a hassle, and I promise to be back home on time, too. How strong is your team now?"

"Strong enough to take on Crasher Wake soon" Heart said with a smile and a giggle, "thanks for asking."

"That's very nice" Berry said. "See you later, and take care."

"Thanks, you too!" Heart said, as she hurried back home.

But when Berry walked across one of the city's many alleys, something caught her attention. A certain sound that sounded like someone who was weeping over something.

'Oh no' Berry thought, 'looks like someone's in peril, better help them out…' She walked towards the alley, which reeked like about twenty locker rooms altogether, and followed the location of the sound, which turned out to be an old, soaked, cardboard box.

"I think someone abandoned something in that box, from the looks of it…!" she whispered to herself, as she opened the lids of the box, where a small, orange Pokémon with a blue glow was shivering out of fear and whimpering loudly.

It was a Rotom, and it looked like it was really cold.

"Oh my Masked Man!" Berry gasped in shock. "Who could do such a thing to such a cute, innocent Pokémon like you! How cruel of them!"

 _T-that's been a long story_ , the Rotom squeaked, _but i-if you like, I c-could tell it to you!_

"Sure thing" Berry said, "I'm all ears." Then, she mumbled to herself again. "How very cruel of their previous owner to abandon it in an alley like that! After all, everyone deserves a good life!"

The Rotom got out of the box, and went inside of an old television via its cable.

 _Pay close attention_ , it said, _I never even knew who exactly abandoned me, since they always wore their hood and a bandana in front of their mouth._

The television then showed the situation, which Berry watched closely. From the first memory after the Rotom's hatching, to the most recent one of it seeing the mysterious human get out of the alley in which it's been abandoned.

Berry shook her head in anger.

"Hot damn" she grumbled, "you don't deserve that! You sure deserve a better home!"

 _I sure do, dear friend_ , the Rotom said, having tears in its eyes now, _but I don't know where to live safely!_ It got out of the television, and huddled close to Berry, who didn't get shocked since she wore a rubber raincoat, and rubber grounds out electricity. _I'm sick of living in this alley and eating almost nothing… I'm hungry, desperate and cold! Could you please take me home?_

"Aw, poor thing" Berry said, having gotten tears into her eyes, too. "Of course you can come along. Here, you can go into the basket…" She pointed at the basket that she carried on her left arm. "I'm sure that it's warm and safe enough for you." Next, she grabbed into the pocket of her raincoat, and got some star candies out of it. "Would you like something to eat? You must be famished…"

The electric and ghost-type hurried into the basket, where Berry put the candies into, and carefully started nibbling onto one. It squeaked in delight, finding it good, and ate the rest, too.

"We should go home now" Berry said, as she closed the lid of the basket. "But promise to be quiet, otherwise people will stare at me because of a talking basket or something."

 _Yes, young lady_ , the Rotom said, as it remained quiet when Berry hurried back home.

Heart, uncle Henry and aunt Alice were home now, too. Berry quickly went inside, carefully put the basket onto the stairs and took her rainwear off.

"Where are the groceries?" Chap asked, as he waited in the kitchen.

"Oops…" Berry said, developing a blush onto her face. "I, uh… forgot them b-because I got distracted by s-something… see?" She got the basket again, and opened it as she walked towards Chap in the kitchen. "Look, this little Rotom was all alone in an alley, and it was abandoned by its previous owner…" She looked at her big brother with baby-doll eyes. "Big bro… could I please keep it?"

The small orange plasma Pokémon shivered again, and let out a loud sneeze.

"Berry" Chap said, as he shook his head, "of course you can't. We've got enough Pokémon already, and I don't think you're ready for the responsibility to take care of one either."

"But Chap!" Berry tried desperately, "what if—"

"No ifs, no buts" Chap said, sounding stern. "You should bring it back to the alley right this instant, since you found it there."

 _No!_ the Rotom exclaimed angrily, _everything but_ _that_ _!_

"Chap, Berry, could you please come to the living room?" Henry requested. "I hear you two talk about something, and I'd like to have more information on that."

The oldest and the youngest of the pack of children did as Henry requested, and joined him and Alice on the sofa. The news was on TV, but it was paused now. In the background, Pik and Heart were watching Nomad Of Nowhere on the computer and occasionally laughing.

"Uncle Henry" Berry said, "I wanted to get the groceries, as Chap requested, but then, something in the alley distracted me, which turned out to be this little cutie who's been abandoned…" She opened the basket again. The Rotom inside of it looked at Henry and Alice with sad eyes.

 _Is there a TV I could use to tell you the long story?_ the plasma Pokémon pleaded. _One that's not plugged in?_

"There sure is" Alice said, and the four went to the attic with the Rotom, who got into the old CRT TV as soon as they arrived.

Alice, Henry, and Chap watched as the television showed the same situation as Berry's seen back in the alley. It left them just as shocked afterwards.

The Rotom got out of the television, crying, and wanted to huddle into Berry, accidentally shocking her since she wasn't wearing her raincoat now.

"You could huddle into auntie Alice if you'd like" Berry said, still being a bit befuddled from the shock. "Her cooking apron is made from the same material as my raincoat."

The Rotom did as Berry said, and Alice tried her best to comfort it with sweet words.

"You should insist Berry on letting her keep this Rotom, Chappy" Alice said to Chap. "Can't you see she really wants it? Moreover, she wanted a Pokémon of her very own for a longer time than you thought."

"Could you please not 'Chappy' me?" Chap sighed. "But fine… Berry, I'll let you keep it. Do you accept the following apology for it: that I'll do the groceries really soon?"

Berry nodded happily. "Thank you so much, big bro! I promise to take the best of care of it, and also train it well enough to let it be the best coordinating partner in the whole universe!" She squeezed her older brother in a tight hug.

 _Yay!_ the Rotom happily exclaimed. _I finally have a new home, and I can stay with Berry and auntie Alice and everyone else!_

The fivesome went downstairs, and Berry sat at the kitchen table with her Rotom, thinking of a nickname she could give it, since all of her siblings nicknamed their own Pokémon, too.

"Lessee…" Berry mumbled. "A fitting nickname…" She thought and she thought. An electric synonym perhaps? Or a ghostly one?

 _Hurry up already, Berry!_ the Rotom said, impatiently. _I ain't gonna remain nameless, y'know?!_ It let out another sneeze, still being slightly cold.

"Calm down, Pulsar" Berry sighed, "it could be way worse than…" She gasped at the fact that she just randomly nicknamed her Rotom without even thinking of it beforehand. "Pulsar… that's perfect!"

 _Yay!_ Pulsar cheered. _Pulsar, that's me! Please, introduce me to your other siblings!_

"Your wish is my command" Berry giggled, as she got up from her chair and went back to the living room along with Pulsar. "Pik, Heart, look what I found in the alley while trying to get groceries!"

Pik and Heart looked up from their web shows, and their faces lit up once they saw Pulsar.

"Berry, I'm so proud of you!" Heart said. "Having found your first Pokémon ever. I promise you're going to be the best coordinator for it!"

 _I'm proud of you too, sis_ , Pulsar said, as it tried to cuddle Heart, accidentally shocking her, too. _Oops, sorry, you weren't wearing an apron or a raincoat or something!_

"Nice, a Ghost-type" Pik said. "I'm sure it'll get along really well with Halley, once she'll get used…" He sent out his Haunter to introduce her to Pulsar. "Halley, this is, uh… Berry, what'd you name it?"

"Pulsar" Berry said. "Pulsar, this is Halley. Please be nice to each other."

 _Hi there, small one_ , Halley said, _nice to meet you_.

 _Nice to meet you too_ , Pulsar said, _let's be friends!_

Pik, Heart and Berry chuckled at the little conversation that the two Ghost-types had.

Berry grabbed in the pocket of her hooded vest, and got some star candies out of it. She divided them equally, and gave four to each Pokémon.

 _Thanks, Berry!_ Halley said, _you sure are a sweetheart!_

 _Isn't she?_ Pulsar giggled, as it swallowed its mouth's contents, and gave Berry a peck on the cheek, accidentally shocking her once again.

"Promise not to be too mischievous, little one!" Berry laughed, "I know you're able to possess some devices as well!" She accepted a Poké Ball that Pik offered her. "Thanks, bro. Now, Pulsar, why won't you go into this, so I can take you anywhere easier?"

Pulsar happily did as Berry asked, and as soon as the capture succeeded, it got out of its ball just as soon.

 _I like being with you guys too much!_ it grinned. _But I promise to get used to this ball as soon as possible too, okay?_

A friendly chuckle from the three siblings was 'yes' for an answer.


End file.
